Olivia the Five Year Old

I thought this the perfect illustration of my daughters birthday. She was in heaven, while the boys were so tired of it and thankful it was over. OJ's birthday was on the 17th, and she milked it (as she should!) to the fullest. Rarely does her world revolve around her the way she thinks it ought to. OJ would love, love, love to make every decision about every day. And for two days, not just one, she got to....well, mostly.

We celebrated on the 16th, mainly because her birthday fell on Ash Wednesday. Which is a day of fasting and abstinence. I would feel really bad that we were oinking out on Ash Wednesday. But there were scheduling things that came up, mass at 6:15, and Jarrod had class late. But I hated having her birthday early knowing that she knew the next day was her birthday and nothing special was done. That stinks!

So we grocery shopped for her birthday, she picked out the menu and dessert. We bought post-Valentine decorations and made it fun in the dining room. She chose pancakes with strawberry syrup and bacon. For dessert strawberry cake, which I twisted to mean strawberries with pound cake and whipped cream. She filled up on her pancakes, having a second helping. Leaving her no room for dessert. But she was okay with that. She got a bike, which was in desperate need, and will be used to the point of abuse here in about a month.

Now what to do ON her birthday to make it special? We decided to go to the library, lets admit it, kids love the darned library. My kids, the more comfortable they get, the more they love it. We got a couple more books in the Mercy Watson series. Wyatt and OJ both adore that pig. We stopped at my mom's to get OJ's present and play for a while, which she always loves, and asks if we can do every day. We then got a surprise visit from my husband, who got off work early that day, and took us to Arby's for some fish sandwiches and curly fries. Yum! That night was just the usual, except we all went to mass. Came home and made them all grilled cheese sandwiches and veggies. Bedtime was regular, and I crashed. Busy day.